Department of Philosophyhttp://hdl.handle.net/1957/214162015-07-09T15:49:36Z2015-07-09T15:49:36ZRealism, Antirealism, and Conventionalism about RaceKaplan, Jonathan MichaelWinther, Rasmus Grønfeldthttp://hdl.handle.net/1957/555732015-04-07T18:31:16Z2014-12-01T00:00:00ZRealism, Antirealism, and Conventionalism about Race
Kaplan, Jonathan Michael; Winther, Rasmus Grønfeldt
This paper distinguishes three concepts of “race”: bio-genomic cluster/race, biological race, and social race. We map out realism, antirealism, and conventionalism about each of these, in three important historical episodes: Frank Livingstone and Theodosius Dobzhansky in 1962, A.W.F. Edwards’ 2003 response to Lewontin (1972), and contemporary discourse. Semantics is especially crucial to the first episode, while normativity is central to the second. Upon inspection, each episode also reveals a variety of commitments to the metaphysics of race. We conclude by interrogating the relevance of these scientific discussions for political positions and a post-racial future.
This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by the Philosophy of Science Association and published by the University of Chicago Press. It can be found at: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal/phos.html
2014-12-01T00:00:00ZRace, IQ, and the Search for Statistical Signals Associated with So-Called “X”-Factors: Environments, Racism, and the “Hereditarian Hypothesis”Kaplan, Jonathan Michaelhttp://hdl.handle.net/1957/555572015-04-06T23:55:59Z2015-01-01T00:00:00ZRace, IQ, and the Search for Statistical Signals Associated with So-Called “X”-Factors: Environments, Racism, and the “Hereditarian Hypothesis”
Kaplan, Jonathan Michael
Some authors defending the "hereditarian" hypothesis with respect to differences in average IQ scores between populations have argued that the sorts of environmental variation hypothesized by some researchers rejecting the hereditarian position should leave discoverable statistical traces, namely changes in the overall variance of scores or in variance-covariance relating scores to other variables. In this paper, I argue that the claims regarding the discoverability of such statistical signals are broadly mistaken - there is no good reason to suspect that the hypothesized environmental causes would leave detectable traces of the sorts suggested. As there remains no way to gather evidence that would permit the direct refutation of the environmental hypotheses, and no direct evidence for the hereditarian position, it remains the case, I argue, that the hereditarian position is unsupported by current evidence.
This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Springer and can be found at: http://link.springer.com/journal/10539
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZPragmatism and Embodiment as Resources for Feminist Interventions in ScienceClough, Sharynhttp://hdl.handle.net/1957/500402014-07-02T21:10:14Z2013-12-01T00:00:00ZPragmatism and Embodiment as Resources for Feminist Interventions in Science
Clough, Sharyn
Feminist theorists have shown that knowledge is embodied in ways that make a
difference in science. Intemann properly endorses feminist standpoint theory over
Longino’s empiricism, insofar as the former better addresses embodiment. I argue that
a pragmatist analysis further improves standpoint theory: Pragmatism avoids the radical
subjectivity that otherwise leaves us unable to account for our ability to share scientific
knowledge across bodies of different kinds; and it allows us to argue for the inclusion,
not just of the knowledge produced from marginalised bodies, but of the marginalised
themselves.
This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Editions Rodopi and can be found at: http://contemporary.pragmatism.org/.
2013-12-01T00:00:00ZGender and the hygiene hypothesisClough, Sharynhttp://hdl.handle.net/1957/500382014-09-09T15:55:02Z2011-02-01T00:00:00ZGender and the hygiene hypothesis
Clough, Sharyn
The hygiene hypothesis offers an explanation for the correlation, well-established in the industrialized
nations of North and West, between increased hygiene and sanitation, and increased rates of asthma and
allergies. Recent studies have added to the scope of the hypothesis, showing a link between decreased
exposure to certain bacteria and parasitic worms, and increased rates of depression and intestinal auto-immune
disorders, respectively. What remains less often discussed in the research on these links is that
women have higher rates than men of asthma and allergies, as well as many auto-immune disorders, and
also depression. The current paper introduces a feminist understanding of gender socialization to the
epidemiological and immunological picture. That standards of cleanliness are generally higher for girls
than boys, especially under the age of five when children are more likely to be under close adult
supervision, is a robust phenomenon in industrialized nations, and some research points to a cross-cultural
pattern. I conclude that, insofar as the hygiene hypothesis successfully identifies standards of
hygiene and sanitation as mediators of immune health, then attention to the relevant patterns of gender
socialization is important. The review also makes clear that adding a feminist analysis of gender
socialization to the hygiene hypothesis helps explain variation in morbidity rates not addressed by other
sources and responds to a number of outstanding puzzles in current research. Alternative explanations
for the sex differences in the relevant morbidity rates are also discussed (e.g., the effects of estrogens).
Finally, new sources of evidence for the hygiene hypothesis are suggested in the form of cross-cultural
and other natural experiments.
This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Elsevier and can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02779536.
2011-02-01T00:00:00Z